The most typical housewarming gift in Korea
I was recently invited to a friend’s housewarming party. Since I don’t know his personal likes and dislikes very well, I just bought the most practical and typical housewarming gift in Korea. Namely….(drumroll) ‘toilet paper’!
Why in the world do Koreans give toilet paper to someone? It’s not pretty, and it’s not ‘gift-like’! Well, let’s find out why!
1. Word play
풀리다 is a verb that means ‘to be unrolled, to be untangled, to be untied’, which can be used to describe how the toilet paper is easily unrolled, like this↓
At the same time, 풀리다 also means ‘ (things/life) goes smoothly, to be solved(problems, conflicts), to be freed’. This is why Koreans give toilet paper to the housewarming hosts as a wish for their best life.
Most Koreans probably know this as a reason for giving toilet paper, like I did, however, according to my research, this is fairly a new tradition that people made up in the past 30~40 years(I am not sure exactly when and how it started).
2. As a cleansing, purifying ritual
Apparently, according to some researchers, gifting the toilet paper and detergent/soap(another popular housewarming gift) is related to a traditional cleansing and purifying ritual. So the hosts can start their new life in a clean environment, which can be translated to a new, fresh start.
3. Koreans are practical…?
I think Koreans tend to be rather practical when it comes to gift giving. Well, this statement is debatable, and completely my own opinion. (Therefore, you don’t need to agree with me.)
On 설날(Lunar New Year) and 추석(Korean Thanksgiving) - 2 major holidays in Korea, from my experience as a Korean, most people buy food or something consumable as gifts! Here are a few examples:
meat/fish
fruit(fruit tends to be quite pricy in Korea)
red ginseng or expensive health supplements(if you want to go fancy)
various types of oil and vinegar - sesame oil, olive oil, apple vinegar etc.
various types of canned goods - Tuna, Spam, etc.
gift sets that have a little bit of everything listed above
kitchen soap/detergent
bath/shower products
Of course, each person and relationship is different, therefore we give different gifts to different people. This is not the ‘rule’. Hope you don’t take this too seriously. :P
♥What do you usually get/give for a housewarming party? Please share with us!